Let us put utility skills in elite skill slots

Make it work like elite specs: You can equip a regular trait line instead.

There are a lot of builds (and sometimes professions) which don't have a good elite skill for everything. As a PvE weaver, I sometimes forget that I even have one.
I personally think more core elite skills would be nice, but in the meantime, why not just let us equip utility skills in the elite slot? More gameplay customization options are always nice, and since all of the "new" abilities already exist, I hardly see how this could become gamebreaking.

Just a side thought, might be overpowered: What if we could also equip a healing skill in the elite slot?

I dunno.. having 4 utility instead of 3 might cause some balance problems leading to undesired changes in certain skills..

You do have a point about Elite skills though.. many of them feel really, really underwhelming.
Add to that there are a lot of skill sets that don't even have an Elite..
Necromancer doesn't have an elite Signet or Well..
Ranger doesn't have an elite Signet or Trap
Same can be seen across all classes.. and it really limits certain builds tbh who build specifically around certain skill types.
A Minion Master who didn't have access to an elite minion would be pretty bad.. so why should a Wellmancer or Trap Ranger have to suffer the same fate.

@Hitman.5829 said:
God no, thieves and mesmers with more invisibility and dodges. NO NO NO NO!

Mesmer only has two (good) stealth utilities my dude there wouldn't be any more to slot in. And honestly you would probably see more condi clear in that last slot than anything else as the Mirage utilities aside from Illusionary Ambush are fairly underwhelming.

Good idea, i personally y dont like rampage alot and signet of rage feels... Underwhelming as an elite skill to say the least, id love to play around with other utilities that i otherwise cant fit in there because there are certain ones that are a must have. Also as someone who also enjoys playing shoutbuilds the lack of an elite shout feelsbadman

@TheAgedGnome.7520 said:
Would the concern about being OP to slot another utility into the elite position be somewhat allayed by having some thing like:

Using a utility skill in the Elite slot causes all equipped utility skills (including the skill in the Elite slot) to increase their recharge time by 20%

(where "20%" is just an example value)

This would provide a more 'nuanced' tradeoff of functionality vs. equipping an Elite skill.

I understand this was just an example, but 20% sounds way too high. Or only apply it to the elite slot... I wouldn't like it, but if that is necessary for balance, then so be it.

@Eddy Law.2874 said:
If it would be considered overpowered to have a regular utility skill slotted into the elite spot-- then that alone illustrates how lacking the elite options are.

I thought of that and hesitated to point it out, but then: Perhaps an elite skill isn't meant to be more powerful than a utility skill. Perhaps Anet just wants everyone to have a big cooldown, and we can't put a utility skill in that slot so we're forced to pick that big cooldown.
Even though I still disagree that it justifies us being unable to put a utility skill in the elite slot, that might just explain why elite skills are not just more powerful on the long term.

Actually, equiping a utility skill in the elite slot should feel like neither a gain or a loss of power, but instead should feel like trading a big power spike once in a while in return of an equivalent power increase on the long term.

When players ask this it basically means there is a problem where a lot of elite skills are not "elite" enough.
Thats how I feel too -> at least on my mesmer. I hate most of elite skills. They're "okayish" but don't really feel elite. The only option was really moa for cc -> and only for CC,. Now it does CC similiar to a signet you have in utility slot so...

Actually on ele I didnt like most of my elites too. On thief also. I don't think any class I played had elite that I though "wow, finally I have my elite off CD. One of my strongest skills!" -> truth be told I only played like half of classes in gw2, but it's enough to say it is a problem.

Let us fill elite slot with utility or give us some elites that feel ELITE. Usually I don't even bother pressing elite skills because it feels like waste of time I have so many better skills for everything off cd anyway.

@Kas.3509 said:
When players ask this it basically means there is a problem where a lot of elite skills are not "elite" enough.
Thats how I feel too -> at least on my mesmer. I hate most of elite skills. They're "okayish" but don't really feel elite. The only option was really moa for cc -> and only for CC,. Now it does CC similiar to a signet you have in utility slot so...

Actually on ele I didnt like most of my elites too. On thief also. I don't think any class I played had elite that I though "wow, finally I have my elite off CD. One of my strongest skills!" -> truth be told I only played like half of classes in gw2, but it's enough to say it is a problem.

Let us fill elite slot with utility or give us some elites that feel ELITE. Usually I don't even bother pressing elite skills because it feels like waste of time I have so many better skills for everything off cd anyway.

@Kas.3509 said:
When players ask this it basically means there is a problem where a lot of elite skills are not "elite" enough.
Thats how I feel too -> at least on my mesmer. I hate most of elite skills. They're "okayish" but don't really feel elite. The only option was really moa for cc -> and only for CC,. Now it does CC similiar to a signet you have in utility slot so...

Actually on ele I didnt like most of my elites too. On thief also. I don't think any class I played had elite that I though "wow, finally I have my elite off CD. One of my strongest skills!" -> truth be told I only played like half of classes in gw2, but it's enough to say it is a problem.

Let us fill elite slot with utility or give us some elites that feel ELITE. Usually I don't even bother pressing elite skills because it feels like waste of time I have so many better skills for everything off cd anyway.

@Kas.3509 said:
When players ask this it basically means there is a problem where a lot of elite skills are not "elite" enough.
Thats how I feel too -> at least on my mesmer. I hate most of elite skills. They're "okayish" but don't really feel elite. The only option was really moa for cc -> and only for CC,. Now it does CC similiar to a signet you have in utility slot so...

Actually on ele I didnt like most of my elites too. On thief also. I don't think any class I played had elite that I though "wow, finally I have my elite off CD. One of my strongest skills!" -> truth be told I only played like half of classes in gw2, but it's enough to say it is a problem.

Let us fill elite slot with utility or give us some elites that feel ELITE. Usually I don't even bother pressing elite skills because it feels like waste of time I have so many better skills for everything off cd anyway.

I could see some arguments for “essential” utilities becoming class mechanics in some instances, after long disccisuon and debate. But to just take 4 utilities (possibly on low cooldown) with no consideration to how that could change matchups I don’t think is healthy.

Particular worry for Theif, Guard, and maybe Mesmer too, but not for stealth options.

@Daishi.6027 said:
No. The structure to only take 3 utilities has to be preserved.

I could see some arguments for “essential” utilities becoming class mechanics in some instances, after long disccisuon and debate. But to just take 4 utilities (possibly on low cooldown) with no consideration to how that could change matchups I don’t think is healthy.

Particular worry for Theif, Guard, and maybe Mesmer too, but not for stealth options.

I'll assume you are talking about PvP and if so I agree with you, because I don't see how that could be true in PvE scenarios. It has been done many times before that a mechanic didn't work the same way in PvP as it does in PvE, that might be needed now: Allow us to put utilities in the elite slot in PvE only.

While PvP modes can always find a use for an ult, in PvE perspective mutch less utility is needed, and the majority of the ults in the game feel completely pointless, either because they break the DPS rotation or because their effects are simply not interesting.

@ROMANG.1903 said:
Make it work like elite specs: You can equip a regular trait line instead.

There are a lot of builds (and sometimes professions) which don't have a good elite skill for everything. As a PvE weaver, I sometimes forget that I even have one.
I personally think more core elite skills would be nice, but in the meantime, why not just let us equip utility skills in the elite slot? More gameplay customization options are always nice, and since all of the "new" abilities already exist, I hardly see how this could become gamebreaking.

Just a side thought, might be overpowered: What if we could also equip a healing skill in the elite slot?

Necro could certainly use a second copy of Spectral Grasp or Spectral Armor, now.